Exception to the Rule
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day six - After "Push it," Quinn and Puck spend some time together, and...


_Three week Glee hiatus, the horrors! To try and make it go by faster, I decided to do this project. I'll put up one new ficlet every day (I hope...) up to the day Glee returns! So be on the lookout! :)_

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**"Exception to the Rule"  
Puck/Quinn**

Quinn left the assembly, needing very much to get away from that school, from reminders of what she'd just been subjected to just then. Seeing Finn dancing about, so suggestively, with that Rachel Berry… Everyone had cheered, but she wouldn't.

She didn't care so much for how it made her feel, either. It was as though her uniform had shrunk over her frame, stifling her.

She had to get out of there, change her mind, forget that afternoon…

"Hey…"

She spun around, almost expecting to find Finn, but instead… it was Puck. She sighed, moving back to get her car door opened. "What do you want?"

"Well… you said your pool guy was out sick, right? I thought I could assist."

This was true… for the most part… some part… Her pool guy was sick. Why it mattered for him to offer his services… well, that was another matter. He wouldn't tell her in so many words… He wasn't even sure he'd know to explain it to himself, but…

"Sure, I guess…" she hummed and got into her car without a word more. Puck watched her go before moving to his own vehicle.

He arrived just as she was at her door, opening it. He grabbed his gear and followed her. He'd been to her house only once before, but he remembered how to get to the back.

When he reached the back door, he stopped and looked back. Quinn had stopped in the kitchen and was staring at the refrigerator like it had insulted her.

He put his things down by the door and moved up to stand there with her. "Confused?" he asked, opening the door for her. She gave him a look and snatched up a wine cooler before heading into the yard. "Well alright…" he spoke to himself before following.

As Puck worked, Quinn sat there, absently drinking along, her mind evidently miles away, working to find a solution to… something, he wasn't sure what. She looked upset; that much he knew.

After a time, he saw she had finished the bottle, and was still staring at it, not yet done thinking. He was going to ask her if he could go and get water, but he decided he might as well go and get it himself, as disturbing her wouldn't do him any good.

In the kitchen, he grabbed a water bottle and, as he did, he looked at the coolers. The way she was acting at this point, he figured she probably wouldn't say no to another one. So he took a couple and headed back to the yard.

When he held out the wine cooler to Quinn and she discreetly smiled, he found himself thinking "What's the matter with Finn that he'd rather sing and dance with Rachel Berry, when he had a girlfriend like Quinn Fabray?" Was he jealous? Was this what it was? Why he'd offered to come clean her pool? She did seem a little less sulky now that he'd given her the new cooler.

In fact, as he got back to work, he noticed she didn't seem so much distracted anymore. She looked quite the opposite, to be honest, she looked concentrated… on him.

He was used to being the object of curiosity from numerous clients – it was almost part of the job description. But this was different.

It was hard to explain, but to have her be looking at him like this… it mattered. It meant…

She was drunk. As he looked up, he realized she'd not only finished off the second bottle, she was clearing out the third, which he'd left near her before. He'd have been frustrated if she wasn't smiling so much.

Now it was him who'd steal glances. She looked different. Sure, she was drunk, but it was something else. She looked care free, like all her burdens had gone away. He was content to have allowed that, no matter the method. So he crouched down, got back to work.

When he looked back again, she was no longer sitting as she'd been. Her shoes and her socks had been discarded clumsily, leaving a trail that let him find her crouching at the other end of the pool, staring at the water, trailing her fingers in it.

She'd undone her hair, leaving it to curve around her face. When she lifted her head up and met his eyes, he was left momentarily breathless.

"You know…" she tilted her head and squinted. "I used to think it looked silly," she waved her hand about. "But I think I'm coming around to it," she nodded, and smirked approvingly. He wasn't sure what she meant at first, but then he understood.

"The hair?" she nodded confidently, then in a lower tone…

"Can I touch it?" Oh yeah, she was good and boozed up.

"Wouldn't recommend it right now, it's kind of sweaty," he pointed out. She shrugged, abandoning the subject.

She stretched to stand up straight, shimmying out the kinks. He had to look down so he wouldn't get caught up in looking at her.

When he stood back up as well, he saw she seemed to be inching her way along the pool's edge, toward his side. He started moving along the other side, so that they were both moving along but always at the same distance.

"Tell me this," Quinn pointed her finger out toward him as they continued their walk along, "Puckerman," she chuckled. "What is it about that club that's so special?" she dragged out the last word. "What is it about that girl?" she asked, absently smoothing out her cheer uniform.

"I don't know," he shrugged, though he was looking at her again now. He'd slowed down now… she was gaining on him.

"I'm going to find out," she nodded.

"How?" he asked. She grinned, waved him off.

"You'll see… you'll see," she nodded, almost giddy with the brilliance of whatever drunken plan she had stored up in her mind.

She was just a few feet away now. Part of him told him, whatever he was thinking, it was a bad idea. It wasn't telling him very loud though, because a moment later he crouched at the pool's edge, continuing to work. Half a minute later, she crouched at his side.

She was looking at him, he could tell. Unable not to, he turned his head to look at her. She smiled, looking up to his head. She reached out her hand, touching the strip of hair, the bare side of his head…

She smiled, again. He was breathless, again.

She looked at him… He was looking back. He really wanted to…

She kissed him. Just barely, just enough… She didn't move away, neither did he. She let out a breath, tended to his breathlessness. So he kissed her back, more…

When they pulled back an inch, their eyes met again. She looked both nervous and anxious. Was he seeing this right?

"Have you…" he started. She shook her head. "Do you…" She met his eyes, and she kissed him again.

THE END


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